4 Reasons Why Video is Your Fiercest Weapon
Today, we can find social media participation in nearly every corner of the automotive industry; dealerships are active on Facebook, automakers are sharing images on Instagram, even salespeople have joined the movement tweeting and posting trying to win more business. It seems to be clear: social is not optional. However, even with all this progression in the social realm, the automotive industry is still missing one key component in social presence: video.
Video has the most incredible opportunity for visibility, creating connection and building trust, but it remains the least utilized medium by our industry. Think about yourself for a moment. How many videos have you watched this week alone? Chances are, at least a couple. Have you seen the video of the Nascar driver dressing in disguise and scaring the used car salesman on a test drive? Video is a powerful medium that people simply enjoy engaging with and sharing. For these reasons, video has the potential to become your fiercest marketing weapon, creating visibility and leads for your dealership.
To be successful on social you must work video into your master (marketing) plan. So why is video your fiercest weapon?
Our customers prefer it
IT’S EXCITING!! It’s visually stimulating and interesting. Video is engaging and easy to tune into. Our brain also processes video far better than audio or text alone. People remember 50% of what they watch compared to only 10% of what they read.
Video gives you the opportunity to communicate your message clearly
The visual element of video allows you to communicate non-verbally with things like facial expressions and tone. It was Tom Hopkins who said, “selling is the transfer of enthusiasm supported by conviction.” Video is the perfect medium to transfer enthusiasm with so many verbal and non-verbal elements at work: tone, body language, facial expression, and volume. Combine this clear and effective communication with how much people like to consume video, and you have pure marketing gold.
The Internet’s heavy players recognize the importance of video and favor it as a type of content
YouTube has Google behind it, making it an extremely strong tool for organic search engine optimization (SEO). This will aid in appearing near the top of any relevant automotive keyword search in your area. Another heavy player in the social world, Facebook, favors video over other types of posts meaning a video uploaded straight into Facebook will be more visible to your audience than a simple text or picture post. More visibility allows you to make more impressions and connections on this social giant.
Video is easy!
It’s more do-able than you think. We don’t need fancy or expensive production with commercial quality. We need to create genuine connection and that can absolutely be accomplished quite simply using the camera on your smartphone. There are many apps that will allow you to film video, move clips around, edit out the beginning where you set the camera on the dash and the end where you hit the button to stop recording, and upload it straight to YouTube with a title, keywords, and a description. If you can use e-mail, you’ll be able to use an app to create simple videos. Apps and simple tools like a smartphone make video absolutely do-able.
Consumers love watching videos, video allows you to communicate a message clearly, there are huge visibility advantages to video, and creating a video, if even with a smartphone, is simple and easy to do. You can use video to connect, differentiate your dealership, build relationships with clients, and win more business. Video is your fiercest weapon. Now get started!